Owsley Brown Frazier, the great-grandson of the distiller who founded Brown-Forman Corp and former vice chairman of Brown-Forman Corporation died yesterday (August 16) after a long illness. He was 77 years old.

A well-known Louisville community philanthropist, Owsley Brown Frazier served as an executive at Brown-Forman for 45 years and as a member of the board of directors for more than 40 years. He was elected vice chairman in 1983 and continued to serve in that role until his retirement from management in 2000. He remained a member of Brown-Forman’s board of directors until 2006.